Ashwind
by JIM TIME
Summary: Ashwind the faerie...human...thing has always been a bit 'different'. Her and her brother, that is. When he gets sent to limbo, can she save him? Can her friend Red the demon help?
1. Chapter 1

"No."

"What?"

"I _honestly_ cannot believe you."

Those were the only words from his lips. He slumped against the wall, nearly knocking over one of the numerous books as I frowned, swinging my clunky boots against the comforting hardwood of my chair. He could have incinerated me where I stood, made me cry out, made me wish I had never been born. He could have done worse. I mean, I know it would have been against the rules, but he could have at least, y'know, given me some _verbal_ abuse. But he just stood there, palm to face, tail twitching.

You heard me. _Tail._

Of course, where I came from, a tail wasn't rare or freakish or anything else you humans say. It was perfectly normal. In fact, you would be 'freakish' if you _didn't_ have one. I had one, my brother had one, and _he_the guy I was talking to right now had one. So did everyone else here in Partways. You- I mean the human who's reading this right now or anyone else- might ask 'what kind of name is _Partways_?'

The answer is simple. A faerie name.

Okay, so I probably need to explain. I'm not human. None of us are. Doesn't matter what we are (but most of us are at least _part_ faerie), we're not human. Okay, some of us are a bit, but more than 50 percent, you'd be kicked out, cast away, _vamoosh_. I, Ashwind Isis (just Ash, please. I'm not sure what my parents were thinking when they had me.), am 10 percent human, 5 percent elemental, and the rest faerie. I didn't get anything good, unfortunately. The 5 percent elemental is small enough to do nothing to my powers, big enough to give me the trademark slanted and yellow-orange eyes of the 'mentals.

Big whoop, right? Here's me, dark hair, big slanted fiery eyes, short, clumsy- and everyone else cornsilk blond, wide blue or gray eyes, tall and lithe and graceful. I'm the dark horse of the community. (Not exactly horse, I guess. More like hybrid thing? Whatever.)

But not the only one.

There's my brother, Ezekiel. Half-brother. And 60 percent human. He _looks_ human, too. When he hatched (Yeah, us faeries hatch. Got a problem with it?) he looked fine- more faerie than anyone in my family. But as he grew up, his ears got rounder, his tail seemed to shrink, his eyes got smaller and his nose larger, he gained weight, and muscle, and about a million other differences.

And for that, that simple crime of growing up, he was sent to limbo.

Great community, huh?


	2. Chapt 2 or Ash battles a Demon

Okay, forgot to add this last time. Ashwind is property of Cara Mallea and NO ONE else. Yup, it's not fanfiction. You can draw the characters or anything, I don't really care. Or write fanfiction. Though I'm not sure you want to. Just...don't draw creepy porn of Ashie and Red, please.

**Chapter Two**

Now that I look at him, I can _really_ tell why they say he has demon blood. Red is our librarian. He takes care of the books we have here, lavishing time and attention on them, carefully oiling their spines, gluing covers back together, and whatever people do to books.

He's probably never been out of the dark old cage he calls a library, and it shows. His skin's milk white and his eyes, although as red and bright as any other demon's are smaller and more almond-shaped. His body is wiry and small, and you'd really have to search to find any fat or even much muscle. Red's half demon and half…something else. We've asked him before, me and my friends, and he just stares at us with those eyes.

"I honestly…" he pauses now, taking one hand away from his face and snapping me out of my memory. I wince; his eye's bleeding freely, staining both his face and his clothes with crimson.

He sees my face and grimaces. "Is it that bad?" he asks, his voice straining.

I nod slowly. It _is_ bad, and made worse by the realization that it is my fault. Red's my friend, or at least I think. I helped him last year by saving his _precious_ books from a fire. He promised to help me if I needed it, and I can say one thing about demons. They don't break promises.

But you never know with Red. He's only a _half_ demon, y'know, and he might be able to break promises. And that would be bad, because whenever I see him cleaning up a mess I made, or carefully binding a book I ripped, I see the monster inside him, _pushing_ to get out and kill me.

So, uh, I should probably be careful, huh?

Forget it. I'm Ashwind Isis, I'm gonna go out and do _stupid things._ It's what I _do,_ y'know?

And I did the stupidest thing I have ever done today. I'm not sure if it's in your world, but there's a book in our Library called 'Night without Moon', and personally, it's the best thing there. It's not allowed out, and for two good reasons.

It teaches you how to summon demons.

It has a _life of its own._

So, I figured out then, if I figured out how to control the demons, I could get Ezekiel out of limbo. Most demons (Excluding Red) lived there, and they had control over what happened there. It was a good idea then, and I think it still is, except for one thing. _The stupid book itself._ The damn book would not shut up.

'_Ashwind…' _it whispered to me, as I bundled it up in my jacket, nervous and alert of anyone else coming into the isle, '_Ashwind, listen to me…we can do great things…listen…come closer, Ashwind…'_

As I listened to it, I realized how wrong I had been. I mean, I just wanted to save my stupid _brother_. And this…this _book_ had some of the best ideas I had heard, hands down. And how great would ruling the world be? Pretty great, you have to admit.

I walked past Red at the checkout desk quickly, clutching the book under my jacket to my side. He looked up from the book he was reading, frowning and cocking his head. He stood up suddenly.

"Hey!" he said, leaning over the desk. "Ashwind, what do you have under your jacket?"

I swallowed nervously, suddenly aware of how sharp Red's teeth were.


	3. Chapt 2 prt 2 or AshIdiot

**Yup! New chapter! Except it's not really a new chapter, it's chapter 2 part 2. And it's almost as long as Seeing Spots! Yay! Which makes this the longest story I've ever written!**

"Nothing, Red, keep reading. "

"No, really." he stepped out from behind his desk, eyes narrowed. "I know you have a book under your jacket. I'm not _stupid._"

"Really?" The word was out before I could stop myself. Man, I am such a _RETARD_ sometimes.

Red shuddered, trying to get himself under control. He loses it so easily sometimes. Like the time I knocked the pile of books over and into the pond…ah...good times. But back to more pressing matters.

"Look, Ashwind. I know what book is under there. I know what you want to do. And if you just _give me the book without fuss,_ I'll forget about what you said. And we can just go back to reading or whatever you were doing, does that sound alright?"

I shook my head. "I don't have a book under here, Red. Honestly, you can be so _thick _sometimes- are you okay?"

He had closed his eyes and leaned against his desk, shaking. His skin was beaded with sweat and he was clutching the edge of the large oaken thing with painful force. He muttered something, lips white and bloodless, before relaxing. He opened his eyes again.

Something had changed.

His eyes were now pure red, without white or even pupils. He stood up, upright and non-slouching, and _man, _he was tall. How had I not noticed before? His claws were fully extended.

"_**Give me the book.**_" He said, staggering towards me. "_**Give it, Ashwind.**_"

Of course, I chose choice R, as in run. As in 'stupidly run away from a fully transformed Demon.' Not the smartest moment in my life.

I did have an advantage. Night without Moon. It almost seemed to _struggle_ out of my jacket and into my hand, where it fell open. I stared at it in alarm; if I dropped it I would be screwed.

Then I saw where it was. '_Quickly Summoning a Demon' _was the chapter title, and as I poured over it, I realized it didn't look too hard. I closed my eyes (Quick hint, kids, don't try this at home while running from an insane beast, okay?) and started speaking the powerful words.

'_Asru aki…" _As I kept speaking them, though, they burned my throat while coming up, and I couldn't stop them. They seemed to control me, spewing out as I ran, faster than ever, eyes now open. I realized that this was a _stupid idea. _One of the worst I had _even_ thought of. What if it killed Red? What if- oh, _shit._

I stopped running suddenly, my sneakers _squeak_ing on the polished floors as I turned around.

"Ah…" I muttered, as I suddenly wished I hadn't.

There was blood. A lot of it. Red was lying on the floor, blood streaming from his face and onto those polished floors. The demon looked up, crouching over Red, it's claws covered in dark blood. It was one of the worst demons I had _ever_ seen.

It was _red_, for one. A deep crimson, now freshly shiny with blood, which I had never seen before. On it's head were black and twisted horns, each ending in a sharp silver point. They looked like they could gouge, those horns. It's eyes were large and pitch black, like twin holes in reality. It was tall, maybe eight feet, but most of the length was in it's torso. The legs were small and stunted, each ending in a black hoof. The arms were long, dragging on the floor, and the claws were giant and clunky. The sight of them, soaked in blood, was enough to make me nauseous.

I was _such_ an idiot.


	4. Chapt 3 or Akkan

**So yeah...all my chapters are pretty short. I always write them with the screen squished, so I underestimate how long they're gonna be. So...yeah. As of now, Ashwind has 2,202 words, which is the most I've ever written in a chapter story. Hell, _this_ chapter has almost the amount (200 off) of Seeing Spots. Good job, neh?  
**

**Chapter 3**

It didn't run at me immediately. It stayed there, _stroking_ Red's face, whispering something. And this time I really did throw up, crouching on my hands and knees as acid came out of my mouth, splattering the floors. After a few seconds of staying still, whimpering, I stood up shakily and wiped my mouth on my sleeve.

The demon stroked Red's face with a tenderness that made me feel sick again. It grinned suddenly, and the sight of the sharp, ragged teeth and leathery black flickering tongue made me clutch my stomach again.

"_**Don't worry, brother…**_" It said, touching Red's face again. Brother?! That…_thing_…was Red's _brother?!_, I thought, taking a step back.

It grinned again, moving towards me. "_**Has dear Red not told you, young one? I am his half brother, Akkan…**_" It took a staggering step, and I could smell the rotten meat on its breath. My stomach heaved again. I wordlessly took another step back, but I couldn't force myself to run. It's eyes…they trapped me. I could see _things_ moving under them.

Slowly, I took another step back, touching the giant bookcase that lined the wall. It was still talking, and although I didn't want to, I listened.

"_**Red gave me his eye in exchange for your life. Red is such a **__**good**__** boy…**_" It's (Or his, I guess) claws flexed into fists. "_**Such a good, good boy. But you look so tasty…**_"

He darted toward me suddenly. One second he was a few yards away and the next he was almost pressed up against me. He took my chin in his claws. I shuddered, pressing against the bookcase with increasing urgency.

"_**Such a pretty one…**_" He whispered, his tongue flickering close to my face. "_**I understand what Red has been saying now, snack. Perhaps I shall eat you…**_"

I whimpered in fear. Crap. My life was about to end, and I just sat there _whimpering_? C'mon, Ash! Fight!

Akkan smiled once again, breathing a repulsive fetid-meat cloud at me. I felt my stomach heave again. He opened his mouth, the ragging sharp spikes brushing my face. He prepared to bite…

And suddenly crumpled to the ground, spewing black blood that _sizzled _when it touched the ground. Red was standing a few feet away, one hand pressed over his eye. Blood still spurted out between his fingers, but he ignored it. He looked angrier than anyone I had ever seen. He pulled something from his pocket, a vial full of strange red liquid, and uncapped it with his teeth.

He tossed it at the demon, and it shattered, sending smoke everywhere as Akkan roared in pain. He writhed across the ground, and I could see different colored glass too, which meant he had thrown a bottle before.

Akkan sat up and grinned, black blood dripping through his mouth. "_**Careful, brother…**_" He said. "_**Keep your faerie safe…**_" and in a boiling cloud of smoke, disappeared.

Red looked at me and shrugged. "Sorry." He said. And suddenly collapsed, fainted.


End file.
